Fawcett 1941 Week--Captain Marvel Adventures #2 (Part 2)

And, we're back with the second half of Captain Marvel Adventures #2, as we look at comics from July 1941, and more specifically, look at how Fawcett dealt with on of the first instances of having to fill a whole 64 page book with stories about just one character.

Answer? Padding!! These stories were 4-6 pages longer than Captain Marvel's usual lead stories in Whiz. And they hadn't quite got the hang of it, so they tended to feel these stories with repetitive fights and noodling around.

In this, the third story of the issue, we begin as an unknown sailor is murdered for his treasure map:

Look, kids, comics!!

Billy Batson goes down to the wharf to investigate, but...

"Evilish One"?? Evilish???

So Billy is shanghaied, and gets to go on a great adventure:

Billy decides to play along to get the story...but he's under the command of the next great character find of 2011: Mozo!!!

Did Mozo just call Billy a lazy crack head?

Well, enough is enough, so Billy says the magic word when Mozo isn't looking, and...

Man, I love Mozo!! I've got big plans for him.

Anyway, after undergoing the same routine once more with Mozo (he's mean, Billy changes and beat him up, Mozo repents...like I said, padding), Captain Marvel has to spend several pages saving the ship from a typhoon. Padding.

They finally reach the island, where the evil pirate tries to force natives to dive in shark-infested waters to retrieve the treasure for him. Marvel objects:

That native girl looks familiar...anyway, Marvel goes down (in a diving helmet!!) and battles a shark!!

Hey, wait a minute!!

OK, I see what happened now!! Earlier this week, I was pretty mean to Whiz Comics #19 for using a cover that I called a complete lie, depicting a scene that wasn't close to anything in the comic:

Now it's obvious what happened: either this story was supposed to run in Whiz #19, or that cover was supposed to run here...something got switched. So, not a lying cover, but a misplaced one. That will teach me to be so judgmental. Apologies, Whiz Comics #19!!

While Marvel is underwater, another pirate ship shows up, and suddenly we're at world's end:

Using the distraction, Cap finds a good home for the treasure:

Socialism!!!

Then the good Captain decides to end the pirate battle--by sinking both ships:

Nooooo!!! Not Mozo!!!!!!!!!!! Please, DC, revive him in the New 52!!!!!!

Oh, and one final note on this story:

Listening to WHIZ Radio must have been one hell of a trip, back in the day...

Our final story features an honest to gosh super-villain of sorts:

The Arson Fiend!!! OK, so they weren't very good at naming super-villains yet...

We start with a failed sales attempt:

Given the splash page, I think you know the result:

This makes Heat Wave look like Mr. Sane. So Billy says the magic word:

Really? The very core of the Earth is shaken each time Billy changes?

So, Captain Marvel rescues the residents of the hotel, and gets the thanks of the ladies:

"Just as I was getting places"?? Oh, Billy, you could have scored!!

And leaving the scene of the crime?

Can you guess his secret? Can you?!?!?!

Tweedle and the Arson Fiend (oops--SPOILER) pulls this routine twice more....as I said, these stories were padded. We have a nice little fight finally:

But he gets away! And apparently, Arson Fiend travels the entire Eastern Seaboard:

Billy tracks down Tweedle, gets hit on the head and gagged (of course), and Tweedle shows Billy how he does it:

Well, Billy manages to escape, and we're set up for an epic battle at an oil storage facility:

You know what I love about this era's Captain Marvel? The way he walks away from near death so casually. "Pretty good fight." Not even an exclamation point!!

Well, that's it for this comic...and I'm pretty sure I've got the Wayback Machine repaired, so tune in tomorrow, as we finally get to Marvel 1981!! Cross your fingers, and be here!!

Fawcett 1941 Week--Captain Marvel Adventures #2 (Part 1)

Well, after being trapped in 1941, we've seen how comic companies published lots of anthologies. But what did they do when a character stuck, and became popular? Did they just keep him in a 12-page lead feature?

Oh, no:

You give him his own title!

People nowadays decry DC over-saturating the market with Bat titles, or suggest Marvel is overusing the Avengers franchise or the X-Franchise.

Well, maybe...but they aren't doing anything Fawcett didn't do first. Giving Cap his own solo title was only the first step. Within a few years, Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr. and Mary Marvel would have their own solo titles; the Marvel Family would join them; and Cap would still headline Whiz while Freddie and Mary were the lead features of Master and Wow, respectively. Not to mention appearing as the lead story in America's Greatest Comics. So Fawcett would be putting out 7 or 8 Marvel-featuring titles most months. DC and Marvel aren't doing anything different than Fawcett was doing--following the money.

Meanwhile, isn't that one FABULOUS cover by C.C. Beck? And yes, it shows Billy punching out a Nazi--although that swastika on his helmet is so small you practically need a magnifying glass to see it--so it one (of the few) counter-examples to everyone except Timely avoiding the issue. And there is not a trace of Nazis or Germans or spies or what have you in any of the stories in this comics.

And as we start our 4 Captain Marvel stories this issue, I should point out that, according to GCD, the entire issue--all 64 pages--was penciled AND inked by George Tuska. 64 pages!! Sure, Captain Marvel Adventures was a quarterly at the time, so Tuska had some extra time to do it all...and yes, the art is cruder than we would accept today. Still, the next time we hear about some artist unable to meet a monthly deadline for 20 pages of pencils, some editor might want to sit him down and tell him about how it was in ye olden days...

Anyway, good old Thaddeus Sivana has a cunning plot to destroy the Big Red Cheese:

Well, that may have been satisfying...but was it really a death trap?

Fortunately, Cap will not be alone in this ordeal, because Sivana is a pretty crappy parent:

You know, I would have been happy with a whole story that was just Sivana going around throwing glasses of water in peoples faces...

But we actually have to have some adventures here, so we follow Cap and Beautia as they battle microscopic monsters:

And Cap even defeats one caterpillar-like dude who sorta look like Mr. Mind would look when he was introduced in a couple of years:

But they're not insects, oh no:

I should mention...the Fawcett writers clearly hadn't adjusted to increased space yet, because boy, are these stories padded. Marvel has to fight about 27 more beasties (I exaggerate, but only slightly) as they try to fill 17 pages with 12 pages worth of story.

Meanwhile, Beautia continues to flirt with Marvel:

Marvel gets eaten by a plant:

And then things get really nuts:

Uh...A) that's not how germs work, and B) If Sivana could negotiate with germs and teach them, could he like cure most diseases? Couldn't he be wealthier and more powerful than anyone??

Anyway, Marvel ends up in a fight with the germ-chieftain. Guess who wins?

Then Marvel and Beautia discover a store of growth drugs Sivana had stashed, and we get a scene that should have White Rabbit playing in the background:

So, it's a sad end for Sivana:

And Beautia??

She commits genocide against a sentient species!! Woo hoo!!

Next up, Captain Marvel must face the terror of Spider-Man!! OK, not Peter Parker...but the Spider Men from Mars!!

And these so called Spider Men??

Well, they look more like the Flea Men from Mars, but, OK...and they are pretty terrifying:

Fortunately, a simple SHAZAM! and a few punches reveals:

Maybe merely robots, but still tougher than the pre-WWII American army!!

Patton is rolling over in his grave!

So Marvel heads to Mars, and meets their dufus leader:

Well, once again, a simple SHAZAM and a couple of punches settle things (yeah, these stories were pretty formulaic):

But back on Earth, the out-of-control Spider Men (who look nothing like spiders) are winning!

But Cap arrives to beat the stuffing out of them!!!

And the day is saved!!

But we've barely begun! Tune in later today for the second half of this big big comic book!!